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It’s not quite WTF month yet, but Marvel may have already out-WTFed DC even before it starts. In Fantastic Four #5AU (an Age of Ultron tie-in) The FF return to Earth to help join the other Marvel Heroes’ fight for survival against Ultron, and they leave Reed and Sue Richard’s kids, Franklin and Valeria, back in space for their protection. (What could possible go wrong with that?)

(SPOILER! At this point you might want to stop reading now if you don’t want you reading enjoyment spoiled? Of course, we know better than that, do we? You’re just like any kid in Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory not named Charle, and we both know it.)

Before heading off, the team records messages for the kids. The one The Thing leaves the kids is the WTF moment, as he confesses about something that happened back in his and Reed’s college days involving their other college “buddy,” Victor Von Doom.

If you recall, Dr. Doom was conducting forbidden experiments in his dorm room trying to contact the netherworld. Or at least he was, until one of his experiments blew up in his face, scarring him for life. Inexplicably, Doom blamed Reed for the incident, resulting in years of trials and tribulations for the FF. Did Big Ben just confess to being the one truly responsible for Dr. Doom’s facial scarring? Could it be too much of a humdinger for the rest of the FF if they ever found out?

Another theory: It’s been suggested (Notably in What If? vol. 1 #6) that the Fantastic Four’s powers were manifestations of their personalities, with Ben Grimm’s transformation into the Thing a result of his presumably gruff (and yes, grim) demeanor. If he was responsible for the accident, could some lingering regret be responsible for his transformation into his rocky, monstrous form?

Maybe it’s too soon to see if this goes anywhere, but it does have a lot of implications to where writer Matt Fraction plans to head in the future.

i'm torn on this. the fan of story inside me thinks this could lead to some very interesting reading involving my favorite Marvel character, the rest of his team, and their greatest enemy.

the continuity nut inside me however thinks this is ridiculous, and really cheapens a lot of what makes Doom's origin so great, namely that he made one scientific mistake, mirroring Reed's one mistake with the cosmic rays, which led to his transformation from student to supervillain. it was this mistake, not tampering from some outside source, which led to his "scarring", which caused his pride to lead to more scarring, etc. and it was Reed's attempt to correct Doom's mistake, or at least inform him and let him correct it, which first showed Doom's pride in refusing to believe it. Doom's downfall, as it has always been and as it should always be, was primarily due to his own doing...not due to some immature prank caused by Ben Grimm.

Simple enough, though. You just have to reveal that Doom, being not an idiot, noticed the tampering five to his experiment, fixed it up, and boom. You still have room for his own mistake to cause everything, AND you get the story room to play with Grimm's guilt.

Lord Simian wrote:Simple enough, though. You just have to reveal that Doom, being not an idiot, noticed the tampering five to his experiment, fixed it up, and boom. You still have room for his own mistake to cause everything, AND you get the story room to play with Grimm's guilt.

if that's where Fraction goes with it, my conflict will be most amicably resolved. anything other than that, and we're gonna have problems...

LOLtron wrote:(SPOILER! At this point you might want to stop reading now if you don’t want you reading enjoyment spoiled? Of course, we know better than that, do we? You’re just like any kid in Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory not named Charle, and we both know it.)

Well, in Gene Wilder's version, Charlie and his grandpa stole Fizzy Lifting Drinks... and they didn't even get an amusing Oompa Loompa song for their troubles! They LOST!! GOOD DAY, SIR!!

Before heading off, the team record messages for the kids. The one The Thing leaves the kids is the WTF moment, as he confesses about something that happened back in his and Reed’s college days involving their other college “buddy,” Victor Von Doom.

If you recall, Dr. Doom was conducting forbidden experiments in his dorm room trying to contact the neteherworld. Or at least he was until one of his experiments blew up in his face, scarring him for life. Inexplicably, Doom blamed Reed on the incident, resulting in years of trials and tribulations for the FF. Did Big Ben just confess to being the one truly responsible for Dr. Doom’s facial scarring? Could it be too much of a humdinger for the rest of the FF if they ever found out?

Another theory: It’s been suggested (Notably in What If? vol. 1 #6) that the Fantastic Four’s powers were manifestations of their personalities, with Ben Grimm’s transformation into the Thing a result of his presumably gruff (and yes, grim) demeanor. If he was responsible for the accident, could some lingering regret be responsible for his transformation into his rocky, monstrous form?

Maybe it’s too soon to see if this goes anywhere, but it does have a lot of implications to where writer Matt Fraction plans to head in the future.